Neuroinflammation is central to the common pathology of several chronic brain conditions causing and accelerating long-term neurodegenerative disorders. Several drivers including inflammation within the GIT can cause and perpetuate inflammation in the brain, damaging and destroying neurons leading to early ageing and atrophy of the brain.
Aberrant microglial activation results in the release of inflammatory cytokines while cognitive deficit is related to alterations of neurotrophic factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF). This occurs not just as we age but throughout our lifespan and underpins conditions such as stress and mood disorders.
Preventative and therapeutic approaches are needed to dampen-down neuroinflammation and promote neuron regeneration.
In this presentation, Dr Elizabeth Steels will discuss the role of neuroprotective herbs and nutrients, their mechanisms of action, and their ability to promote neuroplasticity. She will share details of an ongoing clinical trial featuring a herbal formula and provide clinicians with relevant tools and strategies to help their patients.
Since 2014, over 300 cases of subjective and mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer’s were reversed using multiple modalities designed to achieve metabolic enhancement. The first ethically approved small pilot trial utilising the protocols showed improvement in 84% of 25 participants.
These cases, along with a new model of the underlying pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s, were outlined in published scientific papers by Professor Dale Bredesen, the principal researcher and Neuroscientist.
In this talk, Dr. Jenkins, co-author of the paper “Reversal of Cognitive Decline: 100 Patients”, describes the protocols and teaches how practitioners can offer the protocols to their patients.
This workshop is specifically focused on practitioner well-being. We have all been impacted by the events of the last few years – bushfires, extreme weather, smoke haze, floods and storms, and of course the COVID-19 Pandemic. And while all this was going on, we continued to support people who have also experienced trauma and hardship, often under challenging conditions, with work from home and telehealth becoming part of our “new normal”.
With our own lives impacted by uncertainty and sometimes disarray, many practitioners are reporting exhaustion, empathy overload, and disconnection with meaning and purpose. Regular wellbeing practices that include movement, present moment connection, trauma awareness, and transitional strategies are crucial for practitioner sustainability. This session is about preventing and healing from burnout and connecting with our bodies and minds; we’ll explore ways to process the emotional impacts of recent events, take time to decompress, and find our “why” again.
Simon will explore the implications for natural therapists in treating the brain as a vascular organ, supported by new insights into the dynamic interplay between the blood-brain barrier and neural health and disease. He will also consider the latest evidence indicating a role for plant remedies in leveraging cerebral health through their impact on the vasculature.
A three-year-old male with a recent level 3 Autism Spectrum disorder and a history of foul-smelling stools saw a significant improvement in behavioural issues post microbiome testing and anti-microbial treatment.
A 42-year-old male recently diagnosed with ADHD and treated with prescribed Dexamphetamine after presenting for counseling with a 3-year history of street methamphetamine use. David will explore the reason this person would find methamphetamine helpful and was essentially self-medicating through to a herbal medicine approach to management.
During this case study of a patient with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, Jan will show the importance of the patient’s health history and toxin exposure. Using this information Jan chooses which functional medicine tests and pathology tests will be the most helpful in determining the underlying drivers of the patient’s cognitive decline. In this case study, you will see what steps Jan has taken to address these drivers using diet, lifestyle factors, and nutritional and herbal medicine. Jan often collaborates with other medical practitioners to provide a team approach of care for the patient, along with the patient’s family.
Herbal medicines and nutraceuticals have historically been used to improve a range of cognitive and psychological processes which are often thought to be due to changes in neurotransmitter activity, oxidative stress, blood flow, and inflammation amongst many other biological processes.
Recent advances in neuroscience have identified synaptogenesis as an important neural mechanism for several psychological processes. Synaptogenesis can be defined as our ability to make synaptic connections between neurons and is thought to be the basis of learning and long-term memory.
In this presentation, Professor Con Stough will discuss how we might apply synaptogenesis to herbal medicines and nutraceuticals to improve cognitive function, mood, and wellbeing. He will also present some recently published work from their centre involving neuroimaging after the combination of cognitive training and 90-day supplementation with Bacopa monnieri in older adults.
Our understanding of the human brain has gone through a revolution in the last few decades. Through modern neuroscience, we now understand that, for better or for worse, every experience, thought, emotion, and behaviour shapes and reshapes the brain according to how we are using it. This understanding has been taken to a whole new level through the advent of contemplative neuroscience which indicates that the ability to use attention may be central to a healthy, functional brain.
This presentation will explore the science, practice, and philosophy of mindfulness and what light it sheds on our understanding of the brain and how to use it effectively. With the right practices, there is the potential to help it to work better and to stay younger for longer.
Age-related cognitive decline (ARCD), and its most clinically extreme form (dementia), are not diseases in themselves. ‘Dementia’ is used to describe a group of marked symptoms that occur when brain cells stop working properly, disrupting a person’s ability to carry out daily activities without help. Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common brain pathology linked to dementia, but other common pathologies include vascular and Lewy body dementias and Limbic-predominant Age-related TDP-43 Encephalopathy (LATE). Often someone with dementia will have signs of more than one of these pathologies in his or her brain.
From the age of 40 years, we lose 5% of our brain every decade, but with dementias the pace of even this substantial loss is accelerated. We are indeed witnessing an explosion in the number of dementia cases in Australia and New Zealand as the average age of our populations increase. You can be guaranteed that at some stage in your practice you will be asked to either help treat or prevent this devastating disorder.
In this presentation, Kerry Bone will first make sense of the baffling information relating to the causes and progression of age-related cognitive decline, with a focus on Alzheimer disease. He will then go on to outline the key FHT targets informed by this understanding for preventing or arresting cognitive decline, including the microcirculation, mitochondria, stealth pathogens, and neuroinflammation. Herbs that boost cognition and neuroplasticity also have a key role to play, and the evidence for the best ones to prescribe will be critically reviewed.
In this presentation from Professor Kerry Bone you will learn about:
Novel clinical evidence for herbs that can boost brain trophic factors and enhance neuroplasticity and their significance for ARCD and AD.